Attorneys general in at least nine states sued over the ad in Rolling Stone's November 2007 edition. The nine-page advertising section combined pages of Camel cigarette ads with pages of magazine-produced illustrations on the theme of independent rock music.

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania attorney general's office said the decision is a full victory. An R.J. Reynolds spokesman said the Winston-Salem, N.C., company will appeal.

After the magazine came out, Reynolds contended that the Camel ads themselves contained no cartoons and that the company didn't know the magazine's pages would be illustrations, as opposed to text.

R.J. Reynolds' defense has proved more successful in other states. Judges in Maine and Washington ruled in favor of the tobacco company. A California judge found that R.J. Reynolds violated the Master Settlement Agreement but was not responsible for the ad placement, while an Ohio judge found the opposite, R.J. Reynolds spokesman David Howard said. Neither judge ordered damages, but the company is appealing both decisions, Mr. Howard said. Suits in Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland and New York are pending.